Item levels

[Ommamar]

Do these even matter?  I was watching a play through from a streamer who had found a level 7 plasma sword which when I found just assumed I would have to wait to use it.  They equipped it no problem which I didn't think would be possible.  The build is range based so I haven't seen them try to use it in combat so no idea if it won't be placed in the ready position or not.  Anyone know if you can use higher level weapons with a penalty or does the item level not matter other then better stats?

[thearmourofGod]

so, i shouldnt be able to use a... sword cuz its a level 7?

[Clawdius_Talonious]

The item level determines the damage weapons do, if you find a weapon that's higher than 5 levels above you you could still use it, but the "Tinker" function at workbenches lets you level equipment up to 5 levels above your player level. The cost of tinkering scales up drastically, so a MK2 weapon is a lot better than a similarly leveled MK1 even if it's primarily because tinkering will start at e.g. 50 bits from that higher level point instead of costing as much as several thousand per level.

[Ommamar]

8 hours ago, thearmourofGod said:

so, i shouldnt be able to use a... sword cuz its a level 7?

Well in my mind you would of had to wait until you where level 7 or higher to use it but that doesn't appear to be the case.  Another interesting thing I noticed watching that stream is items won't break.  The person ran around for a good 2 hours with a hunting rifle at 0% durability, while the damage on it sucked making things a lot harder then they needed to be for them I kept expecting it to break.  Which it never did, finally someone in the chat mention to them and they repaired it then was amazed at how much easier the game became.  It is one of the reasons I like watching people stream I would of never known that about items as I don't let them drop below 60% and if they do get to that point I am kicking myself for not paying attention.

[Wormerine]

Reading tutorials would be enough :-).

I really didn't have any issues with item durability. It feels like workbenches have been behind every corner so far.

So yes, if your durability gets low it looses effectiveness. I am pretty sure there is alert for that, as it happened to me before. 

As explained before weapons with higher level does more damage. You can upgrade weapon level by tinkering but the price increases with every level up. So it is far better to switch weapons every once in a while then try to use the same one. 

[thearmourofGod]

enjoy the sword now

sell or by it later

add mod now

enjoy mod now

tinker now! as wormerine said

i love this game

Edited October 31, 2019 by thearmourofGod

[Ommamar]

14 hours ago, Wormerine said:

Reading tutorials would be enough :-).

I really didn't have any issues with item durability. It feels like workbenches have been behind every corner so far.

So yes, if your durability gets low it looses effectiveness. I am pretty sure there is alert for that, as it happened to me before. 

As explained before weapons with higher level does more damage. You can upgrade weapon level by tinkering but the price increases with every level up. So it is far better to switch weapons every once in a while then try to use the same one. 

Of course higher level weapons do more damage I just figured you had to be the same level or higher to use them.  What you want me to read how something works ;-), it is funny you say that though as I have been watching some streamers play content I have already been through.  Every time they wonder out loud about something I think "Well it is explained in the codex you just moused over....!" I guess it is kind of that adult thought of do what I say not what I do!

It is also fairly easy to get the ability to field repair so you aren't dependent on using work benches to maintain your equipment.  The indicator I have seen is an icon in the lower middle of the screen, gun for weapon and armor for well armor.  It starts out as yellow then flashes red once past a certain durability, this is another thing I notice streamers don't seem to pay attention to.  Usually producing a doh when they mention how hard fights seem to have become.